Lady&#39;s garment



Dec. 16, 1947. LlcHT 2,4323") LADY S GARMENT Filed April 25, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR A nna .la'vk if ATTORNEYS Dec. 16, 1947. A. LICHT 2,432,910

LADY'S GARMENT Filed April 25, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTQR Anna Lac/125' ATTORNEYS Patented Dec. 18, 194 7 The present invention relates primarily to brassieres, although it is a plicable to other garments that perform or aid in the bust sustaining function of a brassiere, such as bathing suits, play suits, slips, evening dress forms and the like. i

It is among the objects of the invention to provide a garment of the above type which, though of light textile, affords so adequate a support for the bust as to impart a more youthful form to the wearer without injury or discomfort due to excessive localized pressure or constriction,

7 Claims. (Cl. 2-42) tively to the peaked upper edge I! thereof at one end and to the end flap II at the other, and has a conventional buckle II or similar means for adjustment. The two cup assemblies which permits ready adaptation by simple manipulation thereof to suit the particular form or style of the wearer, which affords freedom of movement and of chest expansion without excessive strain upon the garment, and which permits, without the need for tools or implements, the ready removal of the supporting braces for facility in laundering, and permits ready replacement of said braces after laundering.

In the accompanying drawings in which are shown one or more of various possible embodiments of the several features of the invention,

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing one embodiment of the garment in wear,

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the brassire with parts broken away to indicate the details of construction,

Fig, 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of the cup showing details of the sheath,

Fig. 4 is a view in transverse cross section taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 2, and on larger scale,

Fig. 5 is a perspective fragmentary view of the brace unit,

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary front elevation of another embodiment,

Fig. '7 is a transverse sectional view taken on line 1-! of Fig. 6,

Fig. 8 is a view similar to Fig. 6 of a further v modification,

Fig. 9 is a transverse sectional view taken on line 9-9 of Fig. 8,

Fig. 10 is a front elevation of part of the Fig. 11 is a transverse sectional view taken on line Hll of Fig. 10. I

Referring now to the drawings and particularly to Figs. 1 to 5 thereof, the brassire there shown comprises apair of cups l2, each shaped as by a dart l3. Each cup has a lateral flap II, the two being connected together at the rear byapproprlate fasteners (not shown) and each cup has a shoulder strap l5 connected illustrabrassiere according to a further embodiment, and

in this embodiment, are separate and distinct pieces not stitched together, but are .releasably joined by the brace unit of Fig. 5 as set forth hereinafter.

According to the invention, the lower rim of each cup is provided'with an arcuate sheath for accommodating a brace. That sheath inay comprise an arcuate ribbon l8 of fabric with its lateral edges folded inwardly as at l9, said ribbon being laterally stitched at 20 along the lower rim of the garment and thereby forming the desired sheath.

of a single piece of naked wire 2|, conformed into a flat loop, arcuate in form. as shown, and comprising two lengths 22 and 23 connected at the ends of the brace by hair-pin turn 24" at the inner end' and 24' at the outer end. The convexity of the inner length 22 is coplanar with, nested in and preferably somewhat spaced as at 25 from the concavity of the outer length 23. The brace is preferably made of stainless steel wire of about 15 gauge and is sufficiently soft to admit readily of setting it to any deformation within limits, of greater or lesser curvature for adaption to the form and choice of the wearer. When the abutting wire ends are welded together, as is preferred, that weld is at 26, at the inner or convex length and near one of the hair pin turns 24*, so that no excessive strain will be exerted thereon in shaping the brace, as desired.

The two braces for the brassiere are correlated in a brace unit, as best shown in Figs. 4 and 5,

by a strap 21, illustratively and preferably an elastic strap, the opposite ends of which extend between the two wire lengths of the corresponding braces, each being stitched as a small loop 28 encompassing preferably the corresponding outer wire 23 of the brace.

The brace unit described may readily be incorporated in the two separate cup assemblies of the brassiere, for bracing the latter and for connecting said two cup assemblies into a complete brassire structure. To this end eachof the brace sheaths is laterally opened, preferably by interrupting the outer line of stitching thereof to afford a slit 30 well below the upper inner end 3| -of the sheath, said slit being of length but slightly greater than the width of the connecting strap 21. It will readily be seen thatwith the strap 21 slipped to near the inner end 24 of the brace 2|, the outer end 24" thereof may readily be introduce through the slit 30 and worked inward along the sheath 18 which affords sumcient play for the outer extremity 24 of the brace until the inner extremity 24' of the brace has entered the sheath at the slit 30, so'that the strap 21 is automatically located at said slit. Thereupon the brace is worked in reverse direction until its inner extremity 24 has reached substantially the inner end 3| of the sheath, which inner end is desirably stitched closed as at 33. Thus one of the braces has been introduced, with the strap 21 protruding through slit 30, and in similar manner theother brace is introduced into the sheath of the other cup to make up the brassiere. While each sheath could be made of length not greater than that of the brace to be bound therein, and be closed at its inner end 3|, and open at its outer end 32 to permit the manipulation set forth, it is preferred I movable braces 2| of the construction set forth to stitch the outer end closed also as at 32 and to make the sheath of length substantially greater than that of the brace, and in fact of length such as to extend at both ends thereof clear to the upper edge of the cup, the brace being in the order of one inch shorter than the sheath, thereby to permit the required manipulation of the brace in the insertion into and removal thereof from lateral slit of the sheath.

The braces, within the thin textile "sheath of the garment, though of naked metal wire, will cause no discomfort in wear, since by virtue of ,the

inherent flatness of the brace loop, it cannot twist out of its plane, and -it will distribute the pressure against the body over so wide an area as to avoid any excessive localized pressure and thus dispense with the need for bulky, yielding buffer covering of fabric or rubber that is required to protect the body from injury were but a single length of wire used instead of a fiat double wire brace. 1

The wearer may be forcing the ends of the brace toward each other or away from each other decrease or increase respectively the radius of curvature of the arcuate loop without displacing the two nested wire lengths of'the brace out of their common plane. Accordingly, the braced garment can be readily adjusted to the particular form or style of the wearer and in each of such adjustments, comfort in wear is assured.

When the garment is to be laundered, the brace on one cup may be readily worked downward and outward to expose the inner end 24' thereof through the slit 30, whereupon the wire brace may be removed by pulling the same out through said slit and in similar way the companion brace may be removed and replacement of the braces after laundering is effected as above set forth, all without the need for any tool or implement of any character whatsoever.

In the embodiment of Figs. 6 and 7, the elastic strap 21 is replaced by an adjustable band which desirably comprises a ribbon of elastic or inelastic material as desired, having a plurality of eyes 36 stitched thereto and having a hook 31 at one end thereof which may be selectively afiixed at any eye for greater or lesser efiective length of the resultant strap, depending on the distance desired between the cups. The loop may be introduced between the two wires 22' and 23' of each brace, as shown, and protrudes through slits 3B and may be removed from the garment, if desired, before removal of the braces preparatory to laundering. If the connecting strap is removed beforehand, it will of course be understood that the ,braces and exposed through the slits 30 of the respective sheaths and tied into a bow 4| for any required spacing between the cups.

While, as shown, it is greatly preferred to pass the strap 21 of Figs. 2 and 4, the band 35 of Figs. 6 and '7, and the ribbon 40 of Figs. 8 and 9, between the two wire lengths of each brace, it is understood that such connection might be passed around the inner wire length of the brace.

In the embodiment of Figs. 10 and 11, the reare not connected except by the brassire itself, but are independently mounted, each in its sheath I8 only one of which is shown, each cup having permanently connected thereto a web 42 constituting a unitary part of the brassire and desirably-stitched thereto directly as at 42'. In this re-. lation, unlike that of the other embodiments, the lateral slit through which the connecting strap, band or ribbon directly Joins the braces is not required. The respective braces are removable, preferably through the outer open ends 43 of the respective sheaths I8 If desired, a tab 4| with an appropriate fastener II, on the brassire may.

be stitched to the liner about the edge thereof as at 46, the outer or body ply of the garment 45 being stitched to the cups I2 as at 41 and concealing the outline of the brace, the sheath l8 thereof, and the stitches thereof.

As many changes could be made in the above construction, and many apparently widely .different embodiments of this invention could ,be made without departing from the scope of the claims, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illus-. trative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A bust covering garment comprising a Pair of cups, each of said cups having an arcuate sheath framing the lower rim thereof, arcuate braces slidably retained in the respective sheaths, each brace being of length no greater than that of the corresponding sheath. each brace having rounded longitudinal and end edges, each of said sheaths having an opening for facility of introduction and removal of the brace, and fabric means intervening between the two cups and connecting them together at regions below theupper sheath framing the lower rim thereof, arcuatebraces slidably retained in the respective sheaths, each. brace being of length no greater than .that

of the corresponding sheath, each comprising a unitary flat loop of naked round wire with hairpin turns at the ends of the brace and with a convex length nested in a corresponding concave length spaced therefrom, each of said sheaths having an opening for facility of introduction and removal of the brace, and means intervening between the two cups and connecting them together,

3. The combination recited in claim 2 in which the means connecting the two cups is a strap directly connecting the two arcuate braces and removable with said braces from the brassire structure. I

4. The combination recited in claim 2 in which a connector joins the arcuate braces, in which each arcuate sheath has an interruption near the inner end thereof for accommodating the connector, the extremity of the sheath above the connector releasably accommodating the COI'I'Q-q sponding extremity of the arcuate brace, the sheath afiording play to permit withdrawal of the inner extremity of the brace from the corresponding extremity of the sheath in removal of the brace from the sheath.

5. A bust covering garment comprising a pair of cups, arcuate sheaths framing the lower rims of said cups, each of said sheaths having a lateral slit near the inner end thereof, an arcuate brace in each of said sheaths, each of said braces having a unitary naked deformable wire structure presenting a pair of spaced generally parallel lengths of wire in a common plane with the convexity of one lodged in the concavity of the other, the ends of said wire lengths being connected by hairpin turns, a, connector extending.

between said wire braces and bridging between said cups through said slits in the sheath, said sheaths being constructed and arranged to afiord play for displacement of the wire braces therealong while the connector is in place, thereby to permit removal of the braces from the garment through the slit of the sheath.

6. A bust covering garment comprising anouter and a liner fabric, the latter including a pair of liner cups, having an intervening fabric, each of said liner cups having a sheath framing the lower part thereof, an arcuate brace removably mounted in each sheath and completely enclosed thereby, the outer fabric of the garment covering said liner and being stitched about edges of the liner fabric and extending over the outer part of said sheaths and adequately concealing the outline of the braces from view.

7. The combination recited in claim 6 in which the sheath is superposed over the inner face of the liner cup and the arcuate brace is removable from one end of the sheath and has rounded longitudinal and end edges,

ANNA LICHT.

- REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Germany Jan. 21, 1929 

